Evening News November 2

Good evening and welcome to NCWLIFE News. I’m Grant Olson. Before we get to today’s top stories, let’s take a quick look outside our weather window:

For those watching on our Facebook, tune in to LocalTel channel 12 or Charter channel 19, or stream us live at NCWLIFE.com for the full evening newscast tonight. And now, a few of the stories we’re following for you tonight—three local firefighters assist on the wildfires in Northern California…Fire Chief Mike Burnett works on an incident management team in Puerto Rico and the future of recycling looks grim amidst a looming ban out of China. Later on, we’ll have sports, your weather forecast and our feature story today. But first:

The calendar says November but it looked more like August yesterday as scores of firefighters rallied to a late-season wildfire in the Monitor area.

Fueled by tinder dry conditions and a stiff breeze the fire spread to an estimated 700 acres of grass and shrubs on the hillsides east of Monitor. These images were captured by SkyFi Wireless Internet, who’s cell tower was threatened for a period of time yesterday afternoon. All Level One advisories had been lifted by 8 am and fire managers say they expected full containment by this evening.

With 2015’s wildfires fresh in their minds, three Chelan Firefighters headed to Northern California to assist on fires burning more than 100,000 acres tearing through vineyards and neighborhoods and claiming the lives of 43 people. Firefighters Adam Jones, Troy Keene and Lieutenant Dale Rodman shared their experiences with GoLakeChelan.com. . .

You can find that full interview at GoLakeChelan.com.

As Chief of Chelan County Fire District One, Mike Burnett has seen his share of tragedy during his career of battling structure and wildfires in the Wenatchee area.

But it pales in comparison with what he’s dealing with now as a member of the incident management team involved in disaster aid to hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico. Burnett is deployed by FEMA to help coordinate recovery efforts and he spoke with NCWLIFE’s Steve Hair about the experience. . .

Chelan County Fire District 1 is looking for a few good men…specifically a few good firefighters. Bob Magee, Volunteer Coordinator and Safety Officer with Fire District 1 says they are looking for three types of volunteers. . .

Magee says anyone from the community, 18-years and older, can volunteer as either a combat or support volunteer firefighter. For more information, call Bob Magee at Chelan County Fire District 1 at 509-662-4734.

Coming up, we continue our series of candidate profiles…we’ll take a look at the issue that’s worrying local recyclers and a forest health bill passes a House vote. I’m Grant Olson and you’re watching NCWLIFE News.

The US House has voted to approve legislation aimed to prevent future catastrophic forest fires. The bi-partisan bill was co-sponsored by Congresswoman, Kathy McMorris Rogers and 4th District Representative, Dan Newhouse. In her floor speech in favor of the bill, McMorris-Rogers addressed the need for changes in U.S. Forest Service management policies . . .

The legislation would allow the Forest Service to thin the trees in forests up to 30,000 acres using a shorter environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Forest Service then could more quickly pursue what are known as “forest management projects,” in which the agency removes dead or dying timber and sells it to mills, and then can use the proceeds to care for the forests and make them more resilient to wildfires. The measure has now been advanced to the Senate.

Did you know China was the biggest buyer of recyclable plastic, paper and metal from the United States? Many Washington recyclers are biting their nails as China will no longer take recyclables from the U.S. starting January 1st, giving the industry a grim-looking future. According to the Chinese government, Beijing notified the World Trade Organization that it plans to ban the import of 24 varieties of solid waste, and will turn away any recycling with containments more than point-3 percent. Brenda Blanchfield with Chelan County Public Works says the new regulations put an already struggling industry in a precarious situation. . .

As far as a plan for the future? Blanchfield says local markets should be expanded with manufacturers who process recyclables as the state continues to grapple with budget cuts…

As we continue our look at area political races, tonight we’re focusing on the race for Wenatchee City Council, position 4, between incumbent Keith Huffaker and challenger Adam MacDonald. Keith

Huffaker is 56 years old and has been a city council member since 2012. He is the Project Manager for Aweta Americas, is the chairman of the board for RiverCom 911, serves on the board at the Chelan/Douglas Health District and Chelan Solid Waste. Huffaker says his goals as a council member are to keep local taxes low while maintaining public services, helping the homeless, finding solutions to affordable housing, maintaining streets and improving traffic flow.

Adam MacDonald is 33-years old and is a World and U.S. history teacher at Wenatchee High School. He has an English degree from Gonzaga and is the treasurer for the Wenatchee Education Association. MacDonald is a first time candidate for political office and says he feels that new vision and views are needed to give new life to Wenatchee. He hopes to draw new jobs to the area, improve housing and promote community outreach. Tomorrow we begin our look at the three open positions on the Wenatchee School Board.

You’re watching NCWLIFE news. Coming up next, your sports update followed by today’s feature story. That and much more still to come on NCWLIFE News, stay with us.

Congratulations to the Wenatchee Panthers! The Wenatchee girls won their first-ever district championship Wednesday by downing a very tough West Valley squad 2-to-1. Sebastian Moraga and Matt Wisen had the call on the NCWLIFE Channel last night…

Wenatchee advances to the first round of the State 4A Tournament and will face the winner of Saturday’s match between Chiawana and Lewis & Clark next Tuesday at the Apple Bowl.

As we look at the Les Schwab Prep Soccer Scoreboard from last night…

There you have the Wenatchee 2-1 win. Meanwhile, Eastmont was at Moses Lake trying to also advance to the state tournament. But the Chiefs would have none of it as Moses Lake scored three goals in the first half, en route to a 4-zero win. The Wildcats season comes to an end while Moses Lake will travel to West Valley for a last chance to get to state Saturday in Yakima.

On the Les Schwab Prep Volleyball Scoreboard last night…

Eastmont won its play-in game against Davis to advance to the Big-9 District Tournament. Eric Granstrom was there and has the story…

Eastmont advances to face Eisenhower Saturday at 2 o’clock. If they beat the Cadets, they’ll play the loser of the earlier game between Wenatchee and West Valley for the District Championship for a final shot to get to the State Tournament.

The Wenatchee Wild locked into a high-scoring affair north of the border in Trail, B.C. last night.

Trail jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first. Wenatchee closed to 4-3 before Trail added another shortly before the second intermission. The Smoke Eaters added two more goals to start the third and went on for the 7-5 win. The Wild host Powell River tomorrow night at 7 at the Town Toyota Center. Arch Ecker will join Dan tomorrow morning on Wake Up Wenatchee Valley.

Houston took most of the drama out of Game 7 of the World Series early by scoring five runs in the first two innings and holding on for a 5-1 win and first-ever championship last night in Los Angeles…

George Springer doubled and scored in the first, then hit a two run home run to center field in the 2nd to lead Houston and was named the Series MVP. He tied a World Series record with 5 home runs. The Dodgers stranded 10 runners on base, managing their lone run off Charlie Morton, who capped the Astros’ win with four innings of relief.

Thanks Eric…

Next April, a 120-million dollar bond will go before voters that would pay for the renovation and expansion of Wenatchee High School. On Wednesday, the Wenatchee School Board, along with school Superintendent Brian Flones, gave area business leaders a tour of the high school and a presentation on plans for a new remodel of the aging high school. Bond supporter John McQuaig gave attendees a peak at what the high school might look like if the bond is passed. . .

The renovation would increase available space by almost 60-thousand square feet and would include a new kitchen and commons area and a remodel on every classroom in the facility. If the bond were passed, Wenatchee taxpayers who own a 250-thousand dollar home would see their property tax increase $292.50 per year or $24.38 per month.

We’ll be back in just a moment with a recap of some of today’s stories and your complete local weather forecast right after this.

The calendar says November but it looked more like August yesterday as scores of firefighters rallied to a late-season wildfire in the Monitor area.

Fueled by tinder dry conditions and a stiff breeze the fire spread to an estimated 700 acres of grass and shrubs on the hillsides east of Monitor. These images were captured by SkyFi Wireless Internet, who’s cell tower was threatened for a period of time yesterday afternoon. All Level One advisories had been lifted by 8 am and fire managers say they expected full containment by this evening.

The US House has voted to approve legislation aimed to prevent future catastrophic forest fires. The bi-partisan bill was co-sponsored by Congresswoman, Kathy McMorris Rogers and 4th District Representative, Dan Newhouse. In her floor speech in favor of the bill, McMorris-Rogers addressed the need for changes in U.S. Forest Service management policies . . .

The legislation would allow the Forest Service to thin the trees in forests up to 30,000 acres using a shorter environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Forest Service then could more quickly pursue what are known as “forest management projects,” in which the agency removes dead or dying timber and sells it to mills, and then can use the proceeds to care for the forests and make them more resilient to wildfires. The measure has now been advanced to the Senate.

And now, your weather forecast for North Central Washington.

An incoming weather system will impact our area later today and last through the weekend bringing heavy snow to the mountains and the northern valleys through Saturday. As the cold front moves through our temperatures will cool down almost 10 degrees tomorrow with highs only in the lower 40’s. Another storm system is expected Sunday, which has the potential of producing valley snow to locations south of I-90 and in the Cascades. Here in the Wenatchee Valley around an inch of snow is possible Saturday night with another 1-3 inches of snow possible on Sunday. Higher elevations in our state could see 1-2 feet of snow by Sunday night making travel on area passes very hazardous. A little quieter weather pattern is expected for Monday and into early next week but temperatures will be very cold with highs 10-15 degrees below normal with readings next week only in the 30’s.

If you missed the changing colors in Tumwater Canyon this Fall, you’re in luck, because thanks to ABC News here’s a condensed drive through the beautiful upper valley. . .

If you have a video of the day, you’d like to see on NCWLIFE News, message us on our Facebook Page at the NCWLIFE Channel.

And that’s going to do it for our newscast tonight. For more on these stories and other news from around North Central Washington, you can find us on Facebook or our website at ncwlife.com. And, remember, if you see news happening we’d like to hear from you. You can send us an email at news@ncwlife.com, or give us a call 888-NCWL (6295). Also, tune in to NCWLife Channel Monday morning for Wake Up Wenatchee Valley with host Dan Kuntz and all the latest news with Steve Hair. I’m Grant Olson, thanks for joining us and have a great weekend.